Strengthening Sustainability & Collaboration
TCA’s engagement on the Eugene/Springfield School Based Health Center project, sponsored by the Oregon School Based Health Alliance (OSBHA) and funded through Kaiser Permanente, began in 2015 and has continued to evolve into 2019.
The initial phase was focused on evaluating Lane County’s four SBHCs to better understand issues related to financial sustainability and expanding access of services to students, and any common elements a potential solution might incorporate. The assessment included dozens of interviews with key stakeholders and knowledgeable community leaders, in addition to a number of facilitated group sessions to brainstorm issues and problem-solve. Unique business strategies were developed for each of the three school districts hosting the clinics based on their very different set of circumstances, as well as an overall strategic collaborative effort across the county that held the potential to bring them together in a beneficial way. For the Eugene 4J school district and its two SBHCs, TCA developed a number of alternative solutions for future sustainability through comprehensive business modeling which helped demonstrate key areas of potential focus and the impact of tradeoffs to consider. This analysis helped support TCA’s search for potential new sponsors, and ultimately facilitate a new medical sponsorship agreement between PeaceHealth and Eugene 4J. This arrangement has helped create new levels of collaboration across both those organizations as well as Lane County Behavioral Health which provides mental health services in the SBHCs. Together these highly committed groups have significantly expanded access to needed care on the campuses of Churchill and North Eugene high schools in a way that is proving to be financially sustainable.
As a result of the enhanced performance and sustainability of the clinics, in 2018 TCA kicked off a new Lane SBHC Collaborative Network. The Collaborative not only brings together the four Lane County SBHCs, but also the three largest school districts (4J, Bethel & Springfield) and two major healthcare organizations in PeaceHealth and the Community Health Centers/Lane County Behavioral Health. Additionally, the community orientation of the Collaborative provides a way for other engaged organizations, such as Kaiser Permanente, to actively participate in helping improve student access to healthcare. Key objectives have included developing effective ways to increase awareness of the SBHCs and student utilization of services, relationship building for providers and staff across the clinics, improving coordination between the SBHCs and community providers, enhancing community health education, and expanding access to specific under-served populations such as at-risk/homeless and uninsured students.
The creation of a new brand for the Collaborative, along with a new website and URL that provides supportive messaging, results in an effective platform for expanding the exposure of services and educational content community-wide. Each SBHC continues to maintain their own unique brand and website while the Collaborative site acts as another front door to emphasize their common traits, key points of differentiation from other types of care, important health topics, and provide links to the SBHC websites. Seasonal educational materials have been developed and are posted on the website for viewing and downloading in both English and Spanish. It is anticipated this website will continue to evolve and develop into an even more valuable support to the mission of the SBHCs for years to come.
